Time for my quarterly {ahem} update on all of the construction projects you are picking your way past when you walk/drive/bike around the Hood:

I'll start with the new openings and the coming soons, with both Due South Dockside and Morini Piccolo now operating (softly) on the Yards Park boardwalk, and Cava in the Homewood Suites at Half and M in Any Second Now territory:

There's also now two new arrivals above ground, as PN Hoffman's condo project The Bower has at last made its debut at 4th and Tingey, as has the DC Housing Authority's as-yet unnamed mixed-income rental building at 2nd and L, both of which are shot from the south instead of the intersection because it's now the time of year when anything shot to the south-southeast, south or south-southwest will look terrible, no matter what time of day:

Next on the assembly line, two more residential projects projects are likely to be making their above-ground debuts before the end of the year: JBG's West Half project directly north of Nats Park, and the McDonalds-slaying 2 I Street project:

Also, WC Smith has cleared the lot at 2nd and I to make way for the beginning of work on the Garrett, the third and final apartment building that makes up "The Collective" on that block. Plus, fences are up along 3rd Street for the next project in the Yards lineup, the 270-unit apartment building currently known as "Parcel L2." (Great, I have to update my Highlighted Projects map again.)

Just to make sure all ends of the construction spectrum are represented, one hole is even starting to get covered over, and that's in the 200 and 300 blocks of Virginia Avenue, where the Virginia Avenue Tunnel work is far enough along that you can actually start to imagine a street appearing again in those blocks in the coming months:

Finally, I'll close with a shot of a tearing down rather than a building up, and that's the pile of debris formerly known as 37 L Street SE--just in time to mark the 40th anniversary of the Cinema Follies fire, on Oct. 24, 1977.

So, while the neighborhood is taking a back seat these days to all of the excitement surrounding the opening of the Wharf down the road, there is still a fair amount happening. (And hopefully the neighborhood blogger will someday get back in the groove. Still riding the rollercoaster of my new not-yet-ready-to-call-it-normal.)

Marc says: (10/23/17 5:28 PM)Thanks for the updates and photos! Excited about Cava. Have you heard anything about Whole Foods? Has ANYONE? Is it delayed until the Garrett is done or something? Until Amazon re-configures their grocery store vision? I'm sure these get asked a lot, but maybe I missed something. Thanks again!Marc

JD says: (10/23/17 5:32 PM)I promise everyone, no matter how bad at this I have become, that the second I have Whole Foods need, I will post it. As of now, there is nothing official.

RMP says: (10/23/17 6:28 PM)Thanks for the great new pics! It's quite unfortunate timing that the two boardwalk places opened at the very end of patio season. I imagine they are going to be absolutely hopping on Friday nights next summer.

I was just wondering what's going on with 1221 Van. I'm curious which floorplans are going to have the ballpark views and what they're going to ask for them.

JD says: (10/23/17 6:31 PM)I meant to mention that 1221 Van is at it's due date for starting leasing, but no word that I've heard.

Lower 8th is part of my purview, but in addition to everything else I have a suspected labral tear in my hip and so the notion of walking over there too was untenable. Just pack me up for the home.

JD says: (10/23/17 6:32 PM)(So, yes, 801 Virginia should have been included in my rundown.)

GG says: (10/23/17 6:32 PM)Apologize if this has already been pointed out but what is up with them keeping part of an old building in the new DC water building? It looks like it isn’t part of the historic pumping station, and they haven’t taken much care to keep it from being damaged while building around it. Any ideas?

JD says: (10/23/17 6:36 PM)It's a pumping station too, and still operational. I think they'll be able to look down into it from the new building.

GG says: (10/23/17 6:39 PM)Ah. Interesting. I thought only the nice looking one next door was being kept. Makes sense to surround it then.

knavyard says: (10/24/17 9:11 AM)According to their website, Cava is supposed to open this weekend!

Snacks says: (10/25/17 10:20 AM)Re: Whole Foods - I took a tour of the Park Chelsea around June and was told the plan (at that time) was for the ownership group of those buildings to hand over the space to Whole Foods around January 18 for them to begin building out the space. Based on the current timelines and now being owned by Amazon, who knows if that's going to stick.

I don't think they can hand the building over until the Agora is more complete as they need access to all the space (roads, sidewalks, building exteriors) and trying to have 2 different work crews on site would be very awkward. Not to mention the distinct possibility Amazon may finish building it quicker and it'd be done before the Agora.

Seriously, do they have more than 6 people working on the Agora??

RMP says: (10/25/17 11:05 AM)I don't know what the deal is with WCS but at least they're consistent about being super slow and behind schedule. Before Park Chelsea opened, I called the phone number on their website and the voicemail said "we look forward to welcoming our first residents in July!". This was in January, mind you. They were 6 months behind and hadn't even bothered to update their voicemail. Nobody ever called me back either.

jdc says: (10/25/17 3:03 PM)Excavation and foundation work at Parc phase II going full steam ahead. They also pushed out the fencing to block sidewalks on south and west side - only north side sidewalk is still available.

202_cyclist says: (11/2/17 11:34 AM)It looks like there has been significant construction activity for the hotel being built next to the Yards park.

JD says: (11/2/17 11:35 AM)To be more accurate, the residential building is right next to the park--the hotel will be up at Tingey Street.